Friday, June 29, 2012

Keenan (by his own choice) wizzing through a math (subtraction) book! Looks like he got his Daddy's math genes! Yay! =)

Caleb has decided he doesn't like "baby food" and wants to eat things that he can hold and bite, instead. Here he is, showing a handful of green beans who's boss =)

Rebekah and I did a maternity photo shoot for our friend, Nathalie, on Wednesday. Rebekah did the bulk of the picture taking (I think she's more talented and has a fancier camera), and I helped with props and suggested poses, etc.

I made these little blocks to spell the baby's name

My favorite of the pictures I took

My sweet kiddos

...and their 30 sweet toes =)

Check out the smile on this one!

Yesterday, my friend, Jessica, had a bunch of MOPS moms and their kids over for a swim date. They have a great backyard and beautiful pool. The kids had a blast!

So fun!

Keenan off the diving board

Moriah followed suit

Down the slide!

Moriah did really well with just a paddle board!

We had lunch at McDonald's and Caleb had his first french fries (it's all down hill from here, right?)

Yesterday I decided to actually run 5K, and immediately swim after (to see if I even had a hope of competing in this duathlon on the 4th). I don't know what my running or swimming times were, but I did it! 200 meters may not be far for a triathlete, but for me (who hasn't swam with the purpose of "getting anywhere" in at least several Years), it was a LONG way! I kept thinking "that post is NOT getting any closer!) I ended up swimming about 90% of it on my back, and my arms are definitely starting to ache from being used that way. I plan to swim again tomorrow and am hoping I'm not so stiff I can't!

Philip's dad arrived last night and will be spending three days with us! We (especially the kids) are soo excited!! Here's a picture from dinner tonight.

Wednesday night was banquet time again... which means another residency class has graduated and is leaving us. =0/ It's always such a bitter sweet time for everyone in June.

This year the banquet was at the Hurlburt Field club and it was gorgeous (as you can see below). It was a great night with good friends, awesome food, hilarious class videos, and a touching tribute to Dr. G, who is retiring in August.

I am mortified to see that I have not One picture of Philip and I together at the banquet! =0/ How did that happen? Here are a few of my friends and I...

Rebekah and I

(We clean up okay for moms of three kids, right?)

Full length

With our friend, Nathalie (all the wives received flowers for supporting our husbands in their medical careers)

Rebekah with our dear friend, Robyn, who is moving to Georgia with her newly graduated husband

Monday, June 25, 2012

Keenan had a soccer game on Saturday morning, then we headed on base for a Residency Beach Party. We got to hang with old friends, and connect again with some brand new ones.

I am such a sucker for pictures of these two together =)

Caleb was soo Hot at the picnic that I stripped him down to his diaper =)

Big smiles from Caleb and Moriah

I think he looks Hilarious on her lap because he's so big!

Keenan asked Philip to put Caleb in the baby stroller =)

On Sunday, we had a new family join the Pennys and us for house church here! Kevin is one of the new residents and he and his wife, Alaina, have three children. They are Awesome!!

Caleb asleep on Philip

Our kids, Jade and Eden and their three new friends, Nora Jane, Vivi, and Noble!

I haven't read the book and I didn't love the movie, but it occurred to me a couple days ago that these three words would go well on my kitchen wall (along with the "under words" I added).

Just finished it tonight while Philip is at the hospital waiting for a baby to be born

In other big news, we will be starting the adventure of Homeschooling this fall! We recently decided to use the program, "Classical Conversations", and are delighted to be part of a group right here in our town with two of our friends! Never heard of it? Click here to find out more.

Friday, June 22, 2012

A week or so ago, I was driving past a seafood place near our house (where we buy our shrimp), and, along with various other stuff sitting around, I noticed (behind an old semi trailer), a little wooden bench. It was obviously not "in the trash", but also didn't seem like it was being used. I wanted it. Badly.

After dropping Keenan at VBS, I went back and talked to the owner (a sweet Asian man):

Me: I was wondering about that little bench behind your store... do you use it or were you thinking of getting rid of it?

Him: I use it.

Me: Okay, that's all I wanted to know (turning to leave).

Him: Why, do you want it?

Me: (Sheepish smile) Ya, kind of...

Him: You can have it.

Me: Really? No, if you use it...

Him: It's okay, you take it. Lots of people have asked me about it.

Me: So it's just My lucky day??? (Woohoo!)

Turns out he's a kindred spirit and often picks up treasures in the trash too and can't believe what some people throw away.

I drove home and cleared out the back of the van, and loaded up the bench (kinda gross). One of the corners was busted off and he went rummaging around in his truck and found the piece!

I was so happy I went in and bought a pound of large shrimp for dinner! =)

...which turned into this!

Okay, that's the story, here are the pictures...

Rusty hinges

I threw all the gross stuff away, removed the lid (with some help from Philip) got some hot, soapy water and scrubbed it all down, rinsed it with a hose and let it dry in the sun...

Here is the new lid piece that I had Philip cut out for me

Sooo thankful that Ace Hardware decided to have a FREE paint giveaway Just in time! Woohoo!

Four coats of paint later...

I thought it would be fun to give the inside some color (plus, I'd rather use old, leftover paint in there than waste my new good stuff!) =)

How'd he get in there??

Next, it was time to put the new lid on with the hinges that Philip bought for $1.84, the Only expense in this project (unless you count the pound of shrimp)!

My plan was to have Philip do it, but he was supposed to be working late, and I'm not very patient (in case any of you didn't know that). So I went and found the drill and decided to take matters into my own hands. After I had attached the hinge on one end, I was Not feeling good about it and sent Andrew an urgent email, complete with pictures asking if I'd done it wrong, Help! (Did I mention I'm not patient?) Well, he didn't reply in the next five minutes (how Dare he??) so I went ahead and moved the hinge slightly on that side and attached the one on the other end... and it worked beautifully!

A slight improvement on the old hinges

All finished...

I lay awake the other night, thinking and pondering and wondering how I could make a seat cushion for it without buying any supplies. I was Thrilled when I remembered that my sister in law, Rebekah, had given me this awesome, Super Soft, material a while back, (figuring I could figure out something to do with it).

The picture doesn't do it justice, it's unbelievably soft and beautiful

What to make the cushion out of, though? After scouring the house, I decided to take apart one of the cushions from the couch in the toy room (we've been planning to get rid of it for quite some time, and one of the cushions was especially tattered). I took out the huge piece of foam and had Keenan help me hold it while I sliced/hacked it down the middle. It was not pretty. I was then left with two huge squares of foam about three inches thick. I cut a firm piece of cardboard the size of the bench, put the foam on top of that, added some batting I'd pulled out of a pillow, stretched the material over top, and with duct tape and safety pins, attached the whole mess together. It was Ugly. I tried it out on the bench and it looked like it might work, although it wasn't even, since (surprisingly) my method of cutting wasn't very accurate and the material wasn't going to reach all the way over the back edge. Oh man, did I mention it looked bad?

What now?

I took it all apart, put the (now three) pieces of foam back together, jammed them back into the cushion cover and threw it back on the couch. Back to point A. Then, I spotted it. The pad on top of our change table. We never use the change table and the plastic cover looked pretty bad, so I wasn't likely to pass it along with the table if we gave it away. I sliced the plastic cover off, and there it was. A beautiful, smooth, inch-think piece of foam that was the exact width I needed. I only had to cut about four inches off the back (which was easy to do with scissors in a straight line this time). Then I wrapped it like a present with the material, secured it in place (aka duct taped the edges), flipped it over, and voila!

Yay - I made a cushion! =)

The perfect spot to take care of Moriah's babies

That's a full bench!

(I love how it looks like caleb is wearing Moriah's tutu in this picture)

Filling it up with dolls and stuffed animals =)

...And there you have it. My $1.84 bench (if you don't count the shrimp).

Our little family

Welcome to our blog!

Thank you for reading, whether you know me/us from Ontario, Michigan, Florida, Kansas, or you found us totally randomly or through another blog and just decided to check us out!

If you're looking for deep, thought provoking reading, you've come to the wrong place. If, however, you want to keep up on the lives of the five of us, and you like lots of pictures... this is the right stop! =)